THE SONG HAS ENDED...

Well, please forgive a little more self indulgence but a few posts back I did warn you that I might be boring you with some more snippets from our week back home in the New Forest.  And seeing this photo which I took while we were lost in the depths of Oakley Enclosure brought back memories from just two weeks ago - which already seems a lifetime ago.

I vividly recall how I felt on that morning as we ventured into the unknown - captivated by simply being there, being alive and taking it all in.  The silence was deafening, save for the song of the forest birds going about their business and the slight rustle of the breeze through the towering trees.   I guess I`m understandably feeling a touch nostalgic about it all but I think being able to look back on days like that makes it a little more possible to deal with `the real world,` which all about us seems anything other than how it was on that morning.

So, as my self indulgence gathers momentum, here are a couple of more photos that also provide me with a sense of proportion and a longing to recapture those times and those places that keep me going.  This one shows the sunlight glinting through the forest with not a distracting sight or sound of anything else .......

Whilst out on the open heathland the forest ponies wile away another day......

And at the end of the day the exertions and the new experiences seemed enough for our retriever, Dudley.......

(Please click on photos for better images)

So, self indulgence over for another time.   Back to the real world now with more pressing issues to concern me.   Fulham at St. Mary`s tomorrow, Forest Green at Rodney Parade.

The song may have ended but the melody lingers on.......

ONCE MORE INTO THE LIGHT...

OK, a little self indulgence here.  I`m posting this photo because I like it and also because it evokes very fond memories of a much loved departed friend.  About three Autumns ago I was in these nearby woods when I stopped and was fascinated by the early morning light wafting through the trees as the mist began to rise from the woodland floor.

And if you look carefully you might spot our former golden retriever, Barney, peeking from behind a tree.  Barney loved these woods and although it is over two years now since we lost him and we have now fallen in love with his successor, Dudley, I still look back at those years with great fondness.   Dudley has been introduced to the woodland of course but given where we are with the Covid 19 problems I`m not too sure how long it will be before he, like Barney did, scampers through the woodland glades once more.

I was really quite pleased with the way this photo turned out, so please click on it for a much better image.........

ONE YEAR ON...

It`s a year almost to the day since Dudley took up residence in our house - he`s now 14 months old and has settled very well into the routines and ways of life here in our Kentish enclave.   The photo above shows that he has made good friends with the local pooches and seems to be a happy and contented addition to the local community.

He came from a breeder in the New Forest and we had a week in the forest last month, enjoying the forest walks and the change of scenery.   Apart from that, Dudley`s explorations have been confined to walkies around this part of Kent - including  a bit of the Kent Downs.  Here`s a photo I took of the Kent countryside in all its summer glory.   

(Please click on photo for better image)

No wonder we have happy dogs - we feed them, love them, look after them, provide them with a good home and a contented life - we even pick up things after them if you know what I mean.   But in return we get a lot back - if you don`t mind your face being licked awake at 6.00am each morning.

....and I genuinely hope that 2019 is a kind and good year for you, your family and friends.   

2018 was an `iffy` year for us.  We lost our much loved golden retriever Barney early in the year but we now have the latest in our long line of retrievers in the form of Dudley who is now eight months old and whilst still learning the trade seems to be coming along nicely.

While the world seems intent on seeing in the new year with a cacophony of fireworks, sensitive souls like Dudley just can`t understand why there are so many menacingly loud crashes, bangs and wallops so close to home.   I suspect we will have a late night nursing him through the celebratory din.  But, hey-ho it is new year after all and I guess, like Christmas, it will come and it will go like all the others.

The advent of Dudley meant that our holiday jaunts were restricted to just two in the year - one in April to Padstow not long after we had lost Barney, so it was not the same walking the Cornish cliffs without his company.  The second was to the New Forest in June, at the end of which we picked Dudley up from the breeder and brought him home.  

Get tonight over with and we can start again with a new year which, all being well, will bring my 80th birthday and no doubt another anxious, stressful time as the Saints, true to form, battle once more against relegation.   But there is summer to look forward to - long, warm sunny days, the cricket world cup and hopefully the occasional visit to Canterbury to see how Kent fare in the first division of the county championship. Simple pleasures are often the best ones.

All good wishes for 2019.  See you next year. Possibly.

NURSE !!(PART TWO)..

In what has become an extraordinary week, once more I find myself in a state of disbelief.   Following on from the Saints cup win against Everton the other night, last night saw our Golden Retriever puppy, Dudley, awarded the accolade of Puppy of the Week.

For some weeks now he has been attending puppy training classes and he, along with his fellow pooches, has been learning the trade - things like sitting down when asked nicely, coming back when called, walking on the lead and going down on the ground when told - all pretty basic canine stuff but vital if they are to enjoy a safe and happy life.

And each week one of the puppies has been chosen as the Puppy of the Week, based on the progress made and the `performance` on the night.   Either that or it`s dished out in turn so as not to hurt their feelings (or more likely those of the owners.)  Be that as it may, Dudley was awarded the trophy last night and will wear the crown until next week, when the tests become a little more exacting, involving things like differential calculus and the basics of quantum physics.

I think you can put the smelling salts away again, thank you Nurse. 

EXPLORING THE WORLD...

Our new puppy, Dudley, seems to travel well and he enjoys being in the car.  When we brought him home from the breeder in the New Forest, he settled in to travelling very well and now gets a bit excited when he thinks we`re going anywhere in the  car.  Mind you, so far he has really only been on very short journeys to places like supermarkets, vets and dog food shops.

So this morning we took him for a scamper around some footpaths a little further afield in  this part of Kent so that he could enjoy new sniffs and new surroundings to make a change from walking round our parish.   The photo I took on our walk this morning shows the view from one of the paths which leads down from the Pilgrims Way to the village of Trottiscliffe (known locally as `Trosley.`)  It was part of Dudley`s need to explore the world around us and he seemed to enjoy it - he`s conked out fast asleep now after a hearty lunch.   

I might join him.

A CAUTIOUS RE-ENTRY...

My apologies for absence from these pages for a few weeks.  The culprit is pictured above - Dudley is now 18 weeks old and, as is expected with golden retriever puppies, has been the focus of our attention and continues to be so.   I guess we had forgotten just how demanding puppies can be -it`s over 10 years now since we went through the puppy stage with our dearly departed Barney - and in a way it`s a bit like having kids all over again.

Anyway, Duds has started training classes and has settled into something of a routine which of itself seems to dictate the routine by which we live our own lives.  He`s already growing up bit by bit and it has been quite uncanny to see how he has picked up some of Barney`s old habits - it`s as if Duds has inherited them from his predecessor.  Things like licking out yogurt pots, standing on the top of horse mounting steps, springing into life when he hears the biscuit barrel being opened, waiting at the gate for me to close it when we come home from a walkies - and if he inherits Barney`s character and personality we`ll be well happy.

So, this is a cautious re-entry into the world of blogging and I agree it might lack a little interest but, dear reader, I will try to get back to something a little more interesting in the coming days and weeks.   At least I`ve remembered how to do it.

A DAY TO REMEMBER...

This is Dudley, our new golden retriever.  He won`t take the place of Barney or Henry or any of our previous five retrievers but he will be welcomed into our home, our family, our community and our village when he joins us in a couple of weeks` time.   On Saturday we made the journey down to the New Forest where we had to choose which puppy to have from the adorable litter.  We were left with a choice between two and it was difficult to choose between them - I think we would happily have had both - but in the end we chose this one;  I`m sure you can see why.  

We then went on to revisit one or two places that are a little bit special, well to me anyway.   On the way we drove through some of the open heathland areas of the New Forest and I caught this picture of  a new foal and its mum which kind of sums up what the forest is all about:-

Then on to Lepe on Hampshire`s south coast.  I still recall that when I was about five years old in 1944 walking to Lepe beach from the house my mother and I were staying in with relatives during the war.  It was the first time I had ever seen the sea and it was at the time of the build-up to D-Day in June 1944.  I still remember the hordes of American trucks driving through the village and the troops throwing packets of sweets to us urchins as they drove through en route to Lepe where the Mulberry harbours had been constructed.   These days Lepe is a busy country park but still has the views out to the Isle of Wight.  Here`s a photo of that timeless view I took on what was truly a day to remember:-

(As ever, please click on photos for better images)

HERE WE GO AGAIN..

It`s a few weeks now since we had to say goodbye to our wonderful ten year old golden retriever, Barney.  The years we had with him were filled with companionship, loyalty and love.   He was our fifth golden retriever and came after Holly, Botham, Rupert and Henry, all of whom gave us the same enjoyment as did Barney.

For us at least we discovered a pattern of life which meant that as soon as our three sons left home we started getting retrievers and it has gone on ever since.  We also discovered that - again for us at least - our way of dealing with the loss of each of them has been to go and get another.  And so, we have the prospect of a retriever puppy joining us in about a month`s time.   

Mrs. Snopper, who is really the expert in these things, located a reputable breeder at Fordingbridge in the New Forest.  We visited, liked what we saw, paid the deposit and have received regular updates as to the progress the puppies are making.  In a week`s time we will be visiting again, this time to choose which puppy we might have.  And it`s at that point that the realities of having a retriever are brought home.  

It`s a bit like choosing a football club to support, the reality of which is that it is the club which chooses you rather than the other way around.  And we noticed, especially with Barney, that the puppy chooses you - they come up to you an check you out and hopefully like what they see.  

We`ve been thinking about a name for new puppy and had a number of suggestions but we might have settled on Dudley.  One of my favourite actors was Dudley Foster but I`m attracted to the idea that new puppy and I can walk our village streets and, for those of a certain age and long memories,  the two of us might be known as Pete and Dud.   I just hope Greta Bloody Garbo doesn`t turn up.